The Reference Framework for European Sustainable Cities (RFSC) is an online toolkit designed to help cities promote and enhance their work on integrated sustainable urban development. It is available free of charge to all European local authorities and offers practical support in integrating sustainability principles into local policies and actions. Find out more at www.rfsc.eu. Click through this general presentation to find out the added value of linking the tree tools.

1. Link of the 3 tools:
Develop your strategyDevelop your strategy
Check integrated approach
Develop monitor system
+ +

2. Develop Your Strategy,
Check your Integrated Approach (linked)
Monitor Your Progress (linked)
‘* Our city’s climate neutral strategy DYS-CIA-MYP’
Information provided by

3. The city developed a plan to become a climate neutral city in 2050.
The three elements of the plan are: city climate ambitions and
climate policy, CO2-neutral city administration and the public
buildings.buildings.
1) Check with the RFSC the strategy developed with the key
objectives of sustainable and integrated urban development
2) Check with the RFSC the integrated approach of our climate
neutral strategy
3) Build with the indicators available in the RFSC a monitoring
system for our climate neutral strategy

4. First step:
Develop (check/improve/evaluate)Develop (check/improve/evaluate)
our Climate Neutral Strategy

6. Give your strategy/project a title that your colleagues do understand
Make a short description
Do not forget to save

7. Our overview (dashboard) of strategies and
projects

9. Click
relevant
actions
explain
actions
in comment
fields

10. Use of comments field
• Helps in picking the actions that best suit your local priorities and chose
your level of commitment
• Change the meaning of the sub-objectives so that they suit your
strategy/project best
• Arguments for the scores and judgements
• Stimulate exchange of arguments and communication with team
members and stakeholders
• Source of scoring and judgement (e.g. our Climate Neutral Strategy, page
56- 60)
• Reminder to look up things at a later stage
• Reminder to talk with chef, deputy mayor, mayor et cetera about the
actions, priorities, commitment et cetera

11. explain your or
your team’s choice

12. give
your
conclusions,
next steps

13. Example of interpretation, conclusion, next steps
Our climate neutral strategy 2050 is mainly focusing on
environmental objectives. We should talk with other
departments (economic, social) to discuss if our climatedepartments (economic, social) to discuss if our climate
neutral strategy also helps to achieve other important
economic and social objectives. E.g. can local knowledge of
the business sector acquired by the strategy improve their
competitiveness? E.g. can the incentive to produce more
sustainable energy improve the incomes of the least favorite
classes in our city?

14. Type of conclusions and further actions
• Our climate neutral strategy is not yet addressing economic
and social objectives of our city
• Can we broaden the scope of our climate neutral strategy
• Check and discuss this with staff members of other
departments
• Can our strategy be linked more explicitly to our City
Development Plan (now its seems too limited and too
isolated a strategy)
• Speak about this RFSC evaluation of our strategy with the
deputy mayor

15. share with
other cities
or not yet ?or not yet ?

16. Second step:
Check the Integrated ApproachCheck the Integrated Approach
of our Climate Neutral Strategy

17. link the two RFSC tools

19. Important conclusions at this stage
• Linked to the limited relevant objectives in Develop Your
Strategy checking the Integral Approach does not make much
sense
• For this climate neutral strategy checking the priorities,• For this climate neutral strategy checking the priorities,
impact, synergies and conflicts for all 25 key objectives of
sustainable and integrated urban development is most useful
to do
• The tool ‘Check the Integrated Approach’ can be useful, but
use it separately from ‘Develop Your Strategy’ (not linked)

20. interpretation,
conclusion,
next steps

21. Example of interpretation, conclusion, next steps
It is clear that our strategy to become a climate neutral city is
not addressing the economic and social priorities of our city.not addressing the economic and social priorities of our city.
We need to ensure that no major conflict exists with those
priorities. We should arrange a discussion and dialogue with
other departments, deputy mayor and City Council in order
to identify potential synergies that could be used to address
more and broader city priorities.

22. use
comment
fields

24. use comment field for
interpretation, conclusion,
next steps

25. Example of interpretation, conclusion, next steps
Our climate neutral strategy - at this stage of development - is
only addressing the energy costs and pollution of the city
administration. A climate neutral strategy on such a smalladministration. A climate neutral strategy on such a small
footing will not reinforce our governance objectives. On the
contrary. Therefore the judgement that our strategy will have
a negative impact on our governance objectives as a city.
Start discussions to improve and broaden our climate neutral
strategy.

26. share withshare with
other cities
or not yet?

27. Third step:
Now build a monitor system linkedNow build a monitor system linked
(voluntary choice) to the selected
priorities in the tool ‘Check the
Integrated Approach’

28. link the two RFSC tools

29. because of the link with the tool ‘Check your Integrated Approach‘
and the relevance of our climate neutral strategy for only a few of the
25 key objectives of sustainable and integrated urban development
only a limited set of indicators are presented.
With one click you can undo the link in our city dashboard

30. click open

31. pick key indicators
belonging to each
relevant key objective
pick secondary
indicators belonging
to each relevant sub
objective
read leaflet about
each indicator
in the RFSC library

35. Overview of
selected key
indicators

36. comment on results,
usefulness, next steps

37. Example of interpretation, conclusion, next steps
For our plan to become a climate neutral city with only
emission and energy reduction for the City administration
and city administration office building a few indicators are
sufficient to monitor our progress and results in the future.sufficient to monitor our progress and results in the future.
When our strategy can be broadened we should built a new
monitoring system. With the indicators available in the RFSC
this is easily done.
To develop a broad monitor system do not link the tool
‘Monitor Your Progress’ with the tools used before (‘Develop
Your Strategy’ and ‘Check Integrated Approach’)

39. Part of table produced to fill is with reference
values, actual values, target values